diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
index d10c4feecb43..97243e3304ee 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/containers.nix
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ in
       [{ name = "container@"; value = unit; }]
       # declarative containers
       ++ (mapAttrsToList (name: cfg: nameValuePair "container@${name}" (let
-          config = cfg // (
+          containerConfig = cfg // (
           if cfg.enableTun then
             {
               allowedDevices = cfg.allowedDevices
@@ -700,18 +700,21 @@ in
           else {});
         in
           unit // {
-            preStart = preStartScript config;
-            script = startScript config;
-            postStart = postStartScript config;
-            serviceConfig = serviceDirectives config;
+            preStart = preStartScript containerConfig;
+            script = startScript containerConfig;
+            postStart = postStartScript containerConfig;
+            serviceConfig = serviceDirectives containerConfig;
           } // (
-          if config.autoStart then
+          if containerConfig.autoStart then
             {
               wantedBy = [ "machines.target" ];
               wants = [ "network.target" ];
               after = [ "network.target" ];
-              restartTriggers = [ config.path ];
-              reloadIfChanged = true;
+              restartTriggers = [
+                containerConfig.path
+                config.environment.etc."containers/${name}.conf".source
+              ];
+              restartIfChanged = true;
             }
           else {})
       )) config.containers)